Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling millions of copies worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
